Valve hole flare for vehicle wheels

ABSTRACT

Exemplary illustrations of a method of making a wheel may include stamping a wheel blank, and forming a lip extending about a periphery of an aperture defined by the wheel blank. The aperture may be configured to receive a valve stem. The method may further include refining the lip about the periphery of the aperture. The lip may define an axial thickness greater than a baseline thickness of the wheel blank adjacent the aperture. In some exemplary approaches, a method further includes providing a second wheel blank having a second aperture configured to receive a valve stem. The second aperture may define an axial thickness greater than the baseline thickness of the first wheel blank, while the lip axial thickness of the first wheel blank is substantially equal to axial thickness of the second aperture

BACKGROUND

Vehicle wheels typically have an aperture or hole for receiving a valvestem to allow inflation and deflation of a tire mounted to the wheel.Original equipment manufacturers offer a wide range of wheels acrossvehicle model lines, including different materials. The use of differentmaterials for various wheel designs has resulted in a proliferation ofvalve hole parameters. More specifically, wheels using one material,e.g., aluminum, may require a greater thickness in support areas of awheel, compared with wheels using an inherently stronger material, e.g.,steel. Accordingly, valve holes may have different dimensions or otherconfigurations.

The different valve hole configurations have resulted in a number ofdifferent interfaces for the valve stem assemblies. As valve stemassemblies have become more complex in recent years, e.g., byincorporating electronics such as tire pressure monitoring systems,manufacturers have sought to reduce the number of differentconfigurations to allow reducing costs through greater economies ofscale. For example, some types of tire pressure monitoring systemsgenerally require a consistent thickness of an aperture at an interfacewhere the valve stem is secured to the valve hole. Accordingly, it wouldbe advantageous to have a same thickness across the different wheeldesigns to allow use of a single valve stem design in each of thedifferent designs. The different valve hole configurations of thedifferent wheels, however, have contributed to greater complexity andincreased costs as a result of the different interfaces required for thedifferent wheel designs.

Accordingly, there is a need for a vehicle wheel system and associatedmethod of making the same that addresses the above disadvantages.

SUMMARY

Various exemplary illustrations described herein are directed to amethod of making a wheel, including stamping a wheel blank, and forminga lip extending about a periphery of an aperture defined by the wheelblank. The aperture may be configured to receive a valve stem. Themethod may further include refining the lip about the periphery of theaperture. The lip may define an axial thickness greater than a baselinethickness of the wheel blank adjacent the aperture.

In some exemplary approaches, a method further includes providing asecond wheel blank having a second aperture configured to receive avalve stem. The second aperture may define an axial thickness greaterthan the baseline thickness of the first wheel blank, while the lipaxial thickness of the first wheel blank is substantially equal to axialthickness of the second aperture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the claims are not limited to the illustrated embodiments, anappreciation of various aspects is best gained through a discussion ofvarious examples thereof. Referring now to the drawings, illustrativeembodiments are shown in detail. Although the drawings represent theembodiments, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certainfeatures may be exaggerated to better illustrate and explain aninnovative aspect of an embodiment. Further, the embodiments describedherein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limiting orrestricting to the precise form and configuration shown in the drawingsand disclosed in the following detailed description. Exemplaryembodiments of the present invention are described in detail byreferring to the drawings as follows.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an exemplary stamped wheel for avehicle;

FIG. 1B is a sectional view of the wheel of FIG. 1A, taken through line1B-1B;

FIG. 2A is a perspective view of an exemplary cast wheel for a vehicle;

FIG. 2B is an enlarged perspective view of the wheel of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C is a sectional view of the wheel of FIGS. 2A and 2B, takenthrough line 2C-2C;

FIG. 3A is a sectional view of a stamped wheel with a valve steminstalled, according to one exemplary illustration;

FIG. 3B is a sectional view of a cast wheel with a valve stem installed,according to one exemplary illustration;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a stamped wheel prior to a flaring processused to form a valve hole lip, according to one example; and

FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram for an exemplary method of making awheel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, an exemplary wheel 100 is illustrated.Wheel 100 may generally include a hub portion 102 centrally disposedwith respect to a rim portion 104, which extends about a perimeter ofthe hub portion 102. The hub portion 102 may define one or moreapertures or holes (not shown) for selective securement of the wheel 100to a vehicle, e.g., to a vehicle hub using lugnuts or the like. The rimportion 104 may support the mounting of a tire. The exemplary wheel 100illustrated may be formed of a stamped steel material. In one exemplaryillustration, the hub portion 102 and rim portion 104 are each stampedfrom sheet steel, and are subsequently joined together, e.g., viawelding.

The rim portion 104 generally defines an aperture or valve hole 106. Aswill be described further below, valve hole 106 may generally receive avalve stem (not shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B) to allow selective inflationand deflation of a tire associated with wheel 100. For example, the rimportion 104 may receive a tire mounted via a bead (not shown) such thatthe tire is mounted to the rim portion 104 in a tubeless arrangement.The aperture or valve hole 106 is defined in part by a lip 108. The lip108, as will be described further below, may generally be formed suchthat it extends away from a baseline portion or the rim portion 104. Inthe example shown in FIG. 1A, the lip 108 extends toward an exteriorside of the rim portion 104, although as will be explained below the lip108 may alternatively extend into an interior portion of the rim portion104.

The lip 108 may generally include a refined or smooth surface along atleast a portion of the perimeter of the valve hole 106. For example, thelip 108 generally defines an offset surface 110 which is spaced awayfrom a baseline surface 112. The offset surface 110 may be refined orsmoothed, as will be described further below, such that the surface 110is generally free of burrs or edges that might otherwise damage a valvestem received within the aperture 106 and/or lip 108. In one exemplaryillustration, a refining operation such as a coining process maygenerally work upon the offset surface 110 and/or the backside surface112 of the wheel 100. The offset surface 110 and baseline surface 112generally define an axial thickness D₁ corresponding to a thickness ofthe lip 108. The axial thickness D₁ may be larger with respect to abaseline thickness D₂ of the rim portion 104 of the wheel 100. ThicknessD₂ may be generally equivalent to a sheetmetal thickness of a stampedsheet used in forming the wheel 100 and/or rim portion 104 thereof.

Turning now to FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, another exemplary wheel 200 isillustrated. Wheel 200 may be formed of a different material than wheel100. In one exemplary illustration, the wheel 200 is formed of a castaluminum material. As will be described further below, the material usedto form the wheel 200 may in some examples have one or more materialproperties, e.g., a lower strength than a material used to form wheel100, that necessitates an overall thicker wheel 200. More specifically,wheel 200 may include a hub portion 202 and a rim portion 204. The rimportion 204 may generally define a baseline thickness D₄. The baselinethickness D₄ may be greater than the baseline thickness D₂ of wheel 100.For example, as noted above, a cast construction and or aluminummaterial may generally require a greater thickness adjacent valve hole206 compared with the baseline thickness D₂ of wheel 100 adjacent valvehole 106. More specifically, in order to provide a desired level ofrigidity and strength of the valve hole 106 and/or the wheel 200overall, at least the rim portion 204 of the wheel 200 may need to berelatively thicker or otherwise be reinforced as compared withcorresponding features of the wheel 100.

Turning now to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a valve stem assembly 300 is shown thatmay be installed to either wheel 100 or wheel 200. The valve stemassembly 300 may include a valve stem 302 that is mounted by way of asnap in mount 304. A tire pressure monitoring system 306 may be disposedwithin an interior portion I defined by the wheel 100 with respect to atire (not shown) mounted to the wheel 100. The tire pressure monitoringsystem 306 may generally be configured to determine an air pressurewithin the interior portion I and/or communicate the air pressure to acontroller or display (not shown) to allow remote monitoring of the tirepressure, e.g., from within the interior of a vehicle to which the wheel100 is mounted. The mount 304 may generally define opposing shoulders308, 310, which define a distance D₅ extending between the shoulders 308and 310. The shoulders 308, 310 may be formed of a relatively compliantmaterial, e.g., a plastic or a hard rubber material. The relativecompliance of the material used to form the shoulders 308 and 310, atleast in comparison to a steel or metallic material used to form thewheels 100 and 200, may generally facilitate a snap-in mounting of thevalve stem assembly 300 to the wheels 100 and 200. More specifically,one or both shoulders 308 and 310 may deflect slightly upon insertion ofthe valve stem assembly 300 into the valve hole 106 and/or 206.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, wheel 100 with the valve stem assembly 300 isdescribed in further detail. As noted above, the lip 108 defines anaxial thickness D₁. The valve stem assembly 300 is generally supportedwithin the valve hole 106 by way of the snap-in mount 304, which ismounted on the lip 108. The mounting thickness of the snap-in mount 304,i.e., distance D₅ between the shoulders 308, 310, is substantially equalor otherwise corresponds to the axial thickness D₁ of the lip 108 suchthat the valve stem assembly 300 remained secured to the wheel 100.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, the wheel 200 is illustrated with the valvestem assembly 300. The aperture 206 defines an axial thickness D₂ thatsupports the valve stem assembly 300. Notably, although differentmaterials having different material strengths are used to form the wheel100 and the wheel 200, a same valve stem assembly 300 may be installedto each since the axial thicknesses D₁ and D₃ are each substantiallyequal to the mounting thickness D₅ of the mount 304. Accordingly, thelip 108 of the wheel 100 generally allows for a thicker interface withthe valve stem assembly 300 that corresponds to the greater thicknessrequired in other wheels, e.g., wheel 200.

Turning now to FIG. 4, an exemplary wheel blank 100′ is illustrated andshown prior to the forming of the valve hole 106. A piercing operationmay be used to form the valve hole 106 and or the lip 108. The piercingoperation may be carried out in a direction P such that the lip 108extends to an exterior side of the rim 104, e.g., as described abovewith regard to wheel 100. In other words, a piercing or flaringoperation may be carried out such that the lip 108′ formed therebyextends toward an exterior side E of the wheel blank 100′.Alternatively, the piercing operation may be carried out in an oppositedirection, i.e., opposite to direction P, such that the lip 108 extendsto an interior side I of the rim 104 and/or wheel blank 100′. In oneexemplary illustration, a refining process generally smooths a surfaceby removing burrs, edges, or other surface discontinuities that mightotherwise damage wheel components such as a valve stem extending throughan aperture of the wheel. In another example, a coining operationgenerally works upon one or more surfaces of lip 108 to remove burrs.While a coining operation may be advantageous as it works in asubstantially uniform manner along the surface(s) of the lip 108, anyother process may be employed that is convenient.

Turning now to FIG. 5, an exemplary process 500 of making a wheel isillustrated. Process 500 may begin at block 502, where a first wheelblank is formed. For example, as shown above a wheel blank 100′ may beprovided, which is a generally stamped steel wheel blank 100′. In oneexample, a hub portion 102 and rim portion 104 are each stamped from asheet steel material, and subsequently secured together.

Proceeding to block 504, a lip may be formed in the first wheel blank.For example, as described above a piercing and/or flaring operation maybe used to generally form a lip 108 extending about the perimeter of thevalve hole 106. Process 500 may then proceed to block 506.

At block 506, the lip 108 may be refined about the perimeter of thevalve hole 106. The lip may be refined in any manner such that theoffset surface 110 is generally smoothed such that interference with avalve stem 302 is reduced or eliminated. For example, refinement of thelip 108 may generally remove sharp edges or burrs, e.g., as may resultfrom the piercing operation used to form the valve hole 106, which mayotherwise damage the valve stem 302. The lip 108 may be refined in anymanner that is convenient. In one exemplary illustration, a coiningoperation is used to generally smooth offset surface 110. In anotherexample, as described above a refining process generally smooths asurface by removing burrs, edges, or other surface discontinuities thatmight otherwise damage wheel components such as a valve stem extendingthrough an aperture of the wheel. In another example, a coiningoperation generally work upon one or more surfaces of lip 108 to removeburrs. While a coining operation may be advantageous as it works in asubstantially uniform manner along the surface(s) of the lip 108, anyother process may be employed that is convenient. In another example, aplastic flow may be induced along the surface of the wheel blank 100′adjacent the valve hole 106. The induced plastic flow of the sheet steelmaterial along the surface of the wheel blank 100′ may generally refinethe surface, e.g. offset surface 110 and/or an interior surface of thelip 108, thereby removing any sharp edges or burrs, which mightotherwise interfere with or damaged the valve stem 302.

Proceeding to block 508, a valve stem may be installed. For example, asdescribed above a valve stem assembly 300 may be installed to the valvehole 106. The valve stem assembly 300 may generally be a snap in thestyle valve stem assembly 300, which generally simplifies installation.For example, as described above, the valve stem assembly may haveabutting shoulders 308 and 310 that generally interface with baselinesurface 112 and offset surface 110 of the lip 108. Process 500 may thenproceed to block 510.

At block 510, a second wheel may be provided. For example, wheel 200 maybe formed or otherwise provided in any manner that is convenient. Asnoted above, the wheel 200 may have a baseline thickness D₄ that isgreater than a baseline thickness D₂ of the first wheel 100. At the sametime, an axial thickness D₃ associated with the wheel 200 issubstantially equal to the first wheel axial thickness D₁. Accordingly,installation of a same valve stem assembly 300, or at least valve stemassemblies having substantially the same mounting thicknesses, in eachof the wheels 100, and 200 is possible. Process 500 may then terminate.

In some exemplary approaches, the exemplary methods described herein mayemploy a computer or a computer readable storage medium implementing thevarious methods and processes described herein, e.g., process 500. Ingeneral, computing systems and/or devices, such as the processor and theuser input device, may employ any of a number of computer operatingsystems, including, but by no means limited to, versions and/orvarieties of the Microsoft Windows® operating system, the Unix operatingsystem (e.g., the Solaris® operating system distributed by OracleCorporation of Redwood Shores, Calif.), the AIX UNIX operating systemdistributed by International Business Machines of Armonk, N.Y., theLinux operating system, the Mac OS X and iOS operating systemsdistributed by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., and the Androidoperating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance.

Computing devices generally include computer-executable instructions,where the instructions may be executable by one or more computingdevices such as those listed above. Computer-executable instructions maybe compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using avariety of programming languages and/or technologies, including, withoutlimitation, and either alone or in combination, Java™, C, C++, VisualBasic, Java Script, Perl, etc. In general, a processor (e.g., amicroprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, acomputer-readable medium, etc., and executes these instructions, therebyperforming one or more processes, including one or more of the processesdescribed herein. Such instructions and other data may be stored andtransmitted using a variety of computer-readable media.

A computer-readable medium (also referred to as a processor-readablemedium) includes any non-transitory (e.g., tangible) medium thatparticipates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read bya computer (e.g., by a processor of a computer). Such a medium may takemany forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media andvolatile media. Non-volatile media may include, for example, optical ormagnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media may include,for example, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typicallyconstitutes a main memory. Such instructions may be transmitted by oneor more transmission media, including coaxial cables, copper wire andfiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled toa processor of a computer. Common forms of computer-readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any otheroptical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium withpatterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any othermemory chip or cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer canread.

Databases, data repositories or other data stores described herein mayinclude various kinds of mechanisms for storing, accessing, andretrieving various kinds of data, including a hierarchical database, aset of files in a file system, an application database in a proprietaryformat, a relational database management system (RDBMS), etc. Each suchdata store is generally included within a computing device employing acomputer operating system such as one of those mentioned above, and areaccessed via a network in any one or more of a variety of manners. Afile system may be accessible from a computer operating system, and mayinclude files stored in various formats. An RDBMS generally employs theStructured Query Language (SQL) in addition to a language for creating,storing, editing, and executing stored procedures, such as the PL/SQLlanguage mentioned above.

In some examples, system elements may be implemented ascomputer-readable instructions (e.g., software) on one or more computingdevices (e.g., servers, personal computers, etc.), stored on computerreadable media associated therewith (e.g., disks, memories, etc.). Acomputer program product may comprise such instructions stored oncomputer readable media for carrying out the functions described herein.

The exemplary wheels 100, 200 and associated process 500 generallyallows the use of a same valve stem assembly 300 with vastly differentwheel types. The use of a same or very similar valve stem assemblies 300may result in economies of scale that reduce at least in part theoverall cost of providing different wheel types.

The exemplary illustrations are not limited to the previously describedexamples. Rather, a plurality of variants and modifications arepossible, which also make use of the ideas of the exemplaryillustrations and therefore fall within the protective scope.Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description isintended to be illustrative and not restrictive.

With regard to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc.described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps ofsuch processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to acertain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with thedescribed steps performed in an order other than the order describedherein. It further should be understood that certain steps could beperformed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or thatcertain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, thedescriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose ofillustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed soas to limit the claimed invention.

Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description isintended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments andapplications other than the examples provided would be upon reading theabove description. The scope of the invention should be determined, notwith reference to the above description, but should instead bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It isanticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the artsdiscussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will beincorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should beunderstood that the invention is capable of modification and variationand is limited only by the following claims.

All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadestreasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood bythose skilled in the art unless an explicit indication to the contraryin made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,”“the,” “the,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicatedelements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.

What is claimed, is:
 1. A method, comprising: stamping a wheel blank;forming a lip extending about a periphery of an aperture defined by thewheel blank, the aperture configured to receive a valve stem; andrefining the lip about the periphery of the aperture, the lip definingan axial thickness greater than a baseline thickness of the wheel blankadjacent the aperture.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein forming the lipincludes flaring the wheel blank.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising piercing the wheel blank to define the aperture.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein refining the lip includes coining the lip. 5.The method of claim 3, wherein refining the lip includes inducing aplastic flow along a surface of the wheel blank.
 6. The method of claim3, wherein refining the lip includes smoothing a surface of the wheelblank along the lip.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprisinginstalling a valve stem to the lip.
 8. The method of claim 7, furthercomprising abutting first and second shoulders defined by the valve stemagainst corresponding first and second lip surfaces of the lip.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising establishing the first and secondshoulders as extending substantially parallel to each other.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising establishing the first and secondshoulders of the valve stem as compliant relative to the first andsecond lip surfaces.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the valve stemis a snap-in valve stem.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:establishing the wheel blank as a first wheel blank; providing a secondwheel blank defining a second aperture configured to receive a valvestem; the second aperture defining an axial thickness; wherein the axialthickness of the second aperture is greater than the baseline thicknessof the first wheel blank; and wherein the lip axial thickness of thefirst wheel blank is substantially equal to axial thickness of thesecond aperture.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprisinginstalling first and second valve stems to the first and second wheelblanks, wherein the first and second valve stems each have substantiallyidentical installation thicknesses.
 14. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising forming a rim portion in the wheel blank, the rim portiondefining an interior side configured to receive a tire for securing tothe wheel.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the lip extends into theinterior side of the rim.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the lipextends away from the interior side of the rim.
 17. A method,comprising: stamping a first wheel blank; forming a lip extending abouta periphery of a first aperture defined by the first wheel blank, thefirst aperture configured to receive a valve stem; refining the lipabout the periphery of the first aperture, the lip defining an axialthickness greater than a baseline thickness of the first wheel blankadjacent the aperture; establishing the wheel blank as a first wheelblank; providing a second wheel blank defining a second apertureconfigured to receive a valve stem; the second aperture defining anaxial thickness; wherein the axial thickness of the second aperture isgreater than the baseline thickness of the first wheel blank; andwherein the lip axial thickness of the first wheel blank issubstantially equal to axial thickness of the second aperture.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, further comprising installing first and second valvestems to the first and second wheel blanks, wherein the first and secondvalve stems each have substantially identical installation thicknesses.19. The method of claim 17, further comprising forming a rim portion inthe wheel blank, the rim portion defining an interior side configured toreceive a tire for securing to the wheel.
 20. The method of claim 19,wherein the lip extends away from the interior side of the rim.